杖 (zhàng) is a Chinese character meaning “a stick or staff used for walking or support”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 丈 (zhang; ten chi), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “cane; staff”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 丈
Left–right structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：4 笔木 + 3 笔丈 = 7 笔）
Memory aid
Wood (木) cut to the length of a 丈 — a long measure. A piece of wood that long is something you lean on: a cane.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 拐杖guǎi zhàngwalking stick; cane杖 = zhàng
- 手杖shǒu zhàngwalking stick; cane杖 = zhàng
- 拄杖zhǔ zhàngto lean on a staff; a walking staff杖 = zhàng
Go deeper
All readings
cane; staff
a stick or staff used for walking or support; cane
走路时拄着的棍子。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 拐杖guǎi zhàngwalking stick; cane杖 = zhàng
- 手杖shǒu zhàngwalking stick; cane杖 = zhàng
- 拄杖zhǔ zhàngto lean on a staff; a walking staff杖 = zhàng
Sound component
丈 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 杖 mean?
杖 (zhàng) means a stick or staff used for walking or support; cane.
How do you pronounce 杖?
It is pronounced zhàng.
What parts is 杖 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 丈 (zhang; ten chi), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：4 笔木 + 3 笔丈 = 7 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 杖 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 杖?
木. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 杖?
Common ones are 拐杖 and 手杖. The reading of 杖 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.